Downtowns Matter

36 StAte of mAin FALL 2016 Downtowns matter Travel teaches you many things, not the least of which is that downtowns matter. Downtowns are the heart and soul of our communities. They are also an indicator of larger social and economic trends. For many years, the decline of America’s downtowns was an indicator of a larger trend of people and jobs leaving cities for our far flung suburbs. Now, our downtowns are coming back to life and they are a harbinger of larger social, economic, demographic and technological trends. Photo: Ed McMahon DOWNTOWNS MATTER 37 By Edward T. McMahon Edward T. sensitive develop- periodicals. He Downtowns matter There are over 25,000 incorporated commu- McMahon is the ment policies and serves on several Chairman of the nities in America. Many are prospering, but practices. He is also advisory boards NMSC Board of a senior staff and commissions many others are not. How is it that some Directors. He also adviser for ULI’s including the small cities and towns can prosper, while holds the Charles Building Healthy Chesapeake many others are suffering disinvestment, loss Fraser Chair on Places Initiative, Conservancy, the of identity and even abandonment? Sustainable and is a sought- Governors Institute Why are some communities able to maintain their Development and after speaker and for Community historic character and quality of life in the face of a is a Senior Resident thinker on land use Design and the rapidly changing world, while others have lost the Fellow at the Urban and economic Orton Family very features that once gave them distinction and Land Institute in development Foundation. appeal? How can communities, both big and small, Washington, D.C., trends. McMahon McMahon has an grow without losing their heart and soul? where he leads the is the author or MA in urban organization’s coauthor of 15 studies from the From coast to coast, communities are struggling to worldwide efforts books and writes University of answer these questions. After working in hundreds of to conduct regularly for Urban Alabama at communities in all regions of the country, I have come research and Land magazine, Birmingham and a to some conclusions about why some communities educational Citiwire, Planning JD from George- succeed and others fail. Main Street communities activities related Commissioners town University have found ways to retain their small town values, to environmentally Journal, and other Law School. historic character, scenic beauty and sense of community, yet sustain a prosperous economy. And they’ve done it without accepting the kind of cookie-cutter It’s clear, for instance, that successful communities development that has turned many communities into involve a broad cross-section of residents in determin- faceless places that young people flee, tourists avoid ing and planning for the future. They also capitalize on and which no longer instill a sense of pride in residents. their distinctive assets—their architecture, history, natural surroundings, and home grown businesses— rather than trying to adopt a new and different identity. Most successful communities also utilize a variety Every “successful” community of private-sector and market incentives to influence has its own strengths and new development, instead of relying solely on govern- ment regulations. weaknesses, but they all share some common characteristics. 38 StAte of mAin FALL 2016 trends and consumer attitudes are always changing Not every successful community displays all of and they will affect a community whether people like it the following characteristics, but most have or not. There are really only two kinds of change in the made use of at least three or four: world today: planned change and unplanned change. 1) Have a vision for the future Communities can grow by choice or chance. Abraham 2) Inventory assets Lincoln used to say that “the best way to predict the future is to create it yourself.” Communities with a 3) Build plans on the enhancement of existing assets vision for the future will always be more successful than 4) Use education and incentives, not just regulation communities that just accept whatever comes along. 5) Pick and choose among development projects INVENTORY COMMUNITY ASSETS Creating a vision for the future begins by inventorying 6) Cooperate with neighbors for mutual benefit a community’s assets: natural assets, architectural as- 7) Pay attention to community aesthetics sets, human assets, educational assets, recreational assets, economic assets, etc. Successful communities 8) Have strong leaders and committed citizens then build their plans—whether a land use plan, a tourism plan or an economic development plan— around the enhancement of their existing assets. HAVE A VISION FOR THE FUTURE Successful communities always have a plan for the fu- Twenty-first century economic development focuses ture. Unfortunately, “planning” is a dirty word in some on what a community has, rather than what it doesn’t communities, especially in small towns and rural areas. have. Too many communities spend all their time and In some places, this is the result of today’s highly money on business recruitment. They build an industri- polarized political culture. In other places, it results al park out by the airport and then they try like crazy from a misunderstanding of planning and its value. to attract a plant, factory or distribution center to The truth is, failing to plan, simply means planning to move there. The few communities that are successful fail. It is difficult to name any successful individual, organization, corporation or community that doesn’t plan for the future. Try to imagine a company that didn’t have a business plan. It would have a very hard time attracting inves- tors or staying competitive in the marketplace. The same is true of communities. A community plan is simply a blueprint for the future. People may differ on how to achieve the community’s vision, but without a blueprint, a community will flounder. Understandably, people in small towns don’t like change. But change is inevitable. Technology, the economy, demographics, population growth, market A community without a plan for the future is simply planning to fail. Photo: Urban Land Institute DOWNTOWNS MATTER 39 at this strategy usually accomplish it by giving away Boston and Baltimore, but similar projects went bank- the store. The old economic development paradigm rupt in Toledo, Richmond, Jacksonville and a dozen was about cheap land, cheap gas and cheap labor. It other communities. Successful economic develop- was about shotgun recruitment and low cost positioning. ment is rarely about the one big thing. More likely, it is In the old economy, the most important infrastructure about lots of little things working synergistically investment was roads. Today, successful economic together in a plan that makes sense. In her award development is about laser recruitment and high value winning book—The Living City—author, Roberta Gratz positioning. Today highly trained talent is more says that “successful cities think small in a big way.” important than cheap labor and investing in education Two examples of this are Silver Spring, Maryland, and is far more valuable than widening the highway. Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland had an aging, undersized American communities are littered with projects that convention center. Civic boosters argued for a huge were sold as a “silver bullet” solution to a city’s eco- new convention center that could compete with much nomic woes: the New Jersey State Aquarium in Cam- bigger cities like Chicago, Atlanta or Minneapolis. But den, Vision Land Amusement Park in Birmingham, the small cities like Cleveland will never win in an arms Galleria Mall in Worchester, Massachusetts, the Winter race to build the biggest convention center. Instead Garden in Niagara Falls, New York, to name just a few. Cleveland took a look at its assets, one of which is the Cleveland Clinic: a world renowned medical center Too many communities think that economic revival is located a short distance from downtown. Instead of about the one big thing. Whether it is a convention trying to compete head-on with every other convention center, a casino, a festival marketplace, a sports arena city, Cleveland decided to build a smaller, less expensive or an aquarium, city after city has followed the copy- meeting facility focused on medical conventions and cat logic of competition. If your city has a big conven- which would have an attached medical mart, affiliated tion center, my city needs an even bigger one. Festival with the Cleveland Clinic. marketplaces, for example, worked fine in cities like ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 20TH CENTURY MODEL 21ST CENTURY MODEL Public sector leadership Public/Private Partnerships Shotgun recruitment strategy Laser recruitment strategy Low cost positioning High value positioning Cheap labor Highly trained talent Key infrastructure = roads Key infrastructure = education Focus on what you don’t have Focus on what you do have Driven by transactions Driven by an overall vision Photo: Downtown Goldsboro Development Corporation 40 StAte of mAin FALL 2016 Another example of asset based require a $200 million public sub- tions Corp, which was then housed economic development is Silver sidy. It would also mean the demo- in several different locations Spring, Maryland. For many years, lition of most of downtown Silver around the Washington area. The Silver Spring was the largest sub- Spring’s existing buildings. site where Discovery Communica- urban commercial center in the tions decided to build their new So what happened? Community Mid-Atlantic region, but, by the headquarters was adjacent to the leaders rejected the massive Amer- early 1990s Silver Spring had fallen Silver Spring Metro Station. Bringing ican Dream Mall and set their sights on hard times. A 1996 story in The 1,500 employees into downtown on a succession of more modest Economist said “You can see Silver Spring was a huge boost to developments.

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